The Return of the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well
by Alex Sorrow
Summary: In the large city of Manehatten, one lone mare stands between right and wrong in a fight that she seemed to have been born for. Taking up the mantle of her fillyhood idol and mystery, Aurora faces injustice as the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well!
1. Introduction

She jumped across the rooftops, one caped figure silhouetted over the moon. On any other night, every detail of her outline from the tips of her hat to the sharp ends of her cape were visible, but tonight her silhouette was wavy and distant as a result of the heavy rain falling from the heavens onto Manehatten. Nopony knew her name, which was just as well. When she wore this mask, she had no name.

Her eyes narrowed behind the blue eyepieces in her mask. Her large hat managed to shield her from the worst of the rain, but she still had to concentrate. Doing all these crazy leaps from building to building was dangerous enough, but now there was reduced visibility and slippery surfaces to worry about. She was in a hurry to get home before it was too late.

She arrived on top of a bank, which was a tall building. Only one busy street with plenty of chariots stood between her and the apartment building her family lived. She knelt down, ready to get a running start. The rain was pounding on her back… fortunately, this costume was waterproof. She narrowed her eyes and smiled underneath the dark blue mask. Thank Celestia she was a unicorn.

She took a deep breath, ran to the edge, and jumped with all her might. Her unicorn horn glowed underneath the hat, taking the edges of her cape and straightening them into a glider. The rain was falling, quickening her descent. She held her breath; she just had to get to the building. After tonight… no more. She'd never wear this costume again.

The glider suddenly took a sharp turn down. She gasped and nearly lost control. She tried to straighten up, trying to focus. If she fell, she'd end up under the wheels of one of those chariots. She was close to the apartment building… there was the edge… no fire escapes on this side, it was the edge or nothing but open air all the way down to the street… her speed was failing, she was going to fall.

Now! She released her cape, and threw out her hooves. Barely grabbing onto the edge of the building, she took several deep breaths and struggled to hold on. The rain wasn't making this easy for her. Her back hooves kicked the wet side of the building, and somehow managed to gain a small bit of leverage. She… yes! She pulled herself up onto the roof of the apartment building. Now all she had to do was find the fire escape and crawl into the window of her apartment quietly, as not to wake anypony-

"I knew it."

A voice that should have been quiet over the overwhelming roar of the storm, but she heard it perfectly. She turned, and saw him standing on the roof. How had she missed him?

"I knew you were the vigilante," he continued, glaring at her, "How could you? After everything I've done for you- for us- you just turn around and mess it up?"

"You're a criminal. I'm doing what's right," She said, her voice muffled underneath the mask.

"What's right? You've put _her _at risk now!" He screamed, face going red, "If you aren't going to worry about her, I will."

"If you so much as lay a hoof on her-" She started.

"I already have," He interrupted, "I've taken her someplace far away. You'll never see her again, and it's just as well. You're going to ruin this family."

She stared at him, and he stared back. A monster inside of her awoke, and it was fueling her rage. With an angry roar, she threw herself at him. He looked surprised as she plunged her hoof into his side, but he quickly recovered from the blow. His wings extended, and he swept in for the attack. She jumped backwards, out of the way of a devastating kick from him. He was fast, faster than she had been expecting. A sudden feeling of hopelessness filled her. Even if she won, how was she to find _her, _assuming that he had really taken her away?

Just as soon as it had appeared, the hopelessness left, replaced with fury. She leapt at him, but he moved out of the way. She slammed into the ground, and slid in the puddles. He was using his wings to maintain balance, but at least she was reminded that she was a unicorn. He seemed to have forgotten, now smirking from where he stood.

She grabbed him with magic, and picked him up. He tried to fight it, and for a moment she felt like her magic wasn't strong enough to hold him. She held him over the side of the apartment building, letting him look down on the traffic below.

"Don't make me do this," She said to him, "Please, we can be together again. I… I don't want to do this, Rightful."

"Unfortunately for you," He said quietly, "_I do!_" He said the last two words with a roar as he used his wings to push himself out of the magic aura holding him. Her eyes widened as he slammed into her. The two of them struggled as they slid across the entire roof of the apartment building, barely stopping on the other side. She tried using more magic, but suddenly his hoof connected with her snout. Her vision went fuzzy, and she felt off-balance.

"Sorry, Evergreen," He said, now picking her up off the ground with both hooves, "But I'll take good care of her."

He dropped her off the edge of the building. She didn't scream, and he looked down at her body, hitting the ground in the alley. He stared down long after the sickening crunch of bones hitting pavement had sounded.

"Better care of her than you ever could," He whispered, turning around and trotting away.


	2. Chapter 1: A Day In the Life

1

A Day in The Life

**MANEHATTEN- THE PRESENT**

It was the kind of day that was easily appreciated. As she joyously trotted out of the school building, she looked around at the clouds parting to reveal the bright, warm sun. The fresh air made her feel giddy, a feeling that was rare in the sprawling metropolis of Manehatten. What a glorious sight to behold as soon as she escaped the horrid prison that was Manehatten High School!

Aurora felt more excited day-by-day, as the end of her schooling career was finally coming to an end. Yes, the day was looking up as she turned her back to the concrete prison of the educational system. She was practically skipping down the sidewalk, wondering what she'd do when she got home-

"Hey, Aurora! Hold on!"

Aurora sighed, rolling her pink eyes. She began to trot a bit faster, in order to get away. It was just another pony trying to jump on the bandwagon. This had happened before… too many times before. She had to let them know she wasn't interested in conversation. To Aurora's surprise, the pony behind her began to chase after her.

"Aurora! Wait!"

_Like Tartarus I will… _Aurora thought, hurrying away faster. She turned around a corner of the school, ending up on the edge of the quad. During the day, it served as a place for ponies to eat lunch and hang out, but after school it was the place only certain ponies hung out. As usual, there was a large group of ponies (mostly the athletic and popular ones) hanging out by a table, but today there was a bit of shouting. Aurora couldn't give a flying feather about what they did, but today seemed strange. Usually they'd be around the tables, but today they were crowding around something while shouting "Fight! Fight! Fight!". Aurora moved a bit closer to see what it was.

Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized a thrashing bright blue and purple form on the ground, her best friend Shiny Seas. Above her was a yellow-coated mare known as Golden Eagle, the captain of Manehatten's football team. Eagle was the pride of the school… while on the field. The rest of the time, Aurora only saw her as a bully, who abused classmates and got away with everything she did. As Shiny lie on the ground, Eagle kicked her with her hoof.

"I told you to leave us alone, you nerd!" Golden shouted down at her, while preparing another kick.

"I'm-I'm sorry!" Shiny cried, burying her face in her hooves to hide her tears as she lie on the ground, bruised, "I needed it back…!"

"You shouldn't have dropped it!" Golden laughed, holding up a sleek black notebook with a lock on the side. As Golden waved it around, it was obvious that the lock was open. Aurora recognized it as Shiny's prized possession, a notebook that her father had given her before he had left their family. Shiny tried to keep it a secret from most ponies… Aurora remembered the hesitation and trust that Shiny had displayed when she showed it to Aurora.

"I've filled this with lots of ideas for computers and inventions," Shiny had said, eyes gleaming down at the pages, "Someday… I'm going to build them all!"

Aurora, while initially shocked at the sight of Golden keeping Shiny's book away from her, now realized she had to come to the defense of her best friend.

"Hey! Goldie!" Aurora called out in a mocking tone. The crowd's excited shouts of "Fight!" came to a silence, and they looked over at the newcomer.

Golden Eagle looked over, squinting in the bright sunlight, "What do you want, Aurora? Can't you see I'm busy here?"

Aurora glared at Golden, and saw Shiny look up at her. Seeing the relief behind the tears on her friend's face gave her all the confidence she needed. Aurora stood up a little higher, and spoke clearly and loudly.

"Drop the notebook and help her up," Aurora demanded.

Golden Eagle stared at her for a second, and then threw her head back in a loud laugh. Everypony else was silent, looking between them with a sense of wonder. The crowd parted, giving Aurora a clear view of Golden and Shiny.

"You're funny, Aurora! '_Drop the notebook'," _Golden mocked, "Well, here's some news for you. You don't tell me what to do, I tell everypony else what to do. And now I'm telling you to get out of here and mind your own business before I kick your flank to Fillydelphia!"

Aurora didn't blink, only stared at Golden Eagle's wide smirk for a few seconds. Finally, Aurora smiled, causing Golden's smirk to flicker.

"Alright," She said, extending her wings, "You asked for it."

With that, Aurora threw herself at Golden. Golden was caught off-guard, and gasped as Aurora slammed her hooves into Golden's stomach. She was surprised by how hard Golden's stomach was, how strong she seemed, but Aurora didn't care. The two ponies fell to the ground, where Golden flailed and kicked, catching one of Aurora's back legs.

Aurora cried out in pain, and got to her hooves. Her leg was hurt, but not much. She could still stand on it. Golden shouted, and then lunged at Aurora. Aurora dived to the side, out of the way. Her bright red eyes surveyed her opponent, and sized her up.

_For an earth pony, she's pretty tough… _Aurora thought to herself, watching Golden turn and face her with eyes of fire, _Everypony has some weakness… think back to the last football game…_

Golden attacked, swinging her hooves and kicking. Aurora had to focus on dodging the blows while thinking back to the last game that Golden had been in. There must have been something that happened… Golden had scored most of the touchdowns… slipped away from every tackle… had it been a perfect game…?

"What are you, chicken?!" Golden laughed, "Stop dodging, you coward!"

Aurora ignored her, and tried to think. Finally, Golden's hoof connected with Aurora's jaw. The world blurred for a second, and Aurora blinked a few times.

"There we go!" Golden triumphantly taunted to the cheers of her teammates. Aurora was about to fly up and kick her foe in the eye, but then a memory finally clicked in her head.

_Golden was tackled once… they got her leg in the last quarter and she had to sit out for the rest of the game…_

Golden grinned as she prepared another punch. This time, Aurora ducked and went to the ground as she swung. Golden was caught off-balance, and nearly tripped. Aurora lashed out with her leg, and caught Golden's directly where the mare had been tackled. Golden immediately fell down, clutching her leg like a filly who had fallen down and skinned it.

"Ouch!" She cried out. Aurora flapped her wings and jumped into the air. The bottoms of her hooves were level with Golden Eagle's eyes for an instant, and then Aurora kicked Golden, knocking her unconscious before her lifeless body had fallen to the ground. For a horrible moment, Aurora thought she had gone too far and actually killed somepony, but then she saw Golden's chest rise up with air.

Aurora sighed deeply, and tried to catch her breath as she looked down at her opponent. The gang of Golden's friends and teammates now stared in awe at the mare who had knocked Golden Eagle, _the _Golden Eagle, out like a broken lightbulb.

"This sure doesn't look like Fillydelphia, Goldie," Aurora whispered.

Shiny looked up to see Aurora's hoof, and gratefully took it. Aurora pulled her up off the ground, and Shiny brushed herself off. She looked to Aurora, and saw her eyes full of concern.

"Are you okay?" Aurora asked, looking her up and down for any bruises, "Your snout is bleeding."

"I'm fine," Shiny answered, wiping her snout with her hoof. She looked down to see that Aurora was right; A thick trail of blood clung to her hoof, "Glad you came along though…"

"Of course," Aurora said with a cough, bending down and picking up Shiny's notebook from the ground by Golden's hoof. Aurora handed it to Shiny, who took it with relief. Aurora wrapped her hoof around Shiny, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"I'm getting sick of ponies, Shiny," Aurora complained as they began walking down a long Manehatten sidewalk on a busy street full of chariots, "Just today, before I went to the quad, somepony followed me-"

"And he was going to ask you about Mare-Do-Well?" Shiny finished, playfully punching Aurora's front leg, "That's still going on? It's been a week! Just think, some pony dressed up as Mare-Do-Well shows up in some dead-end town called 'Ponyville', and it's suddenly the next big thing since Sapphire Shores' _Aqua _album."

"Yeah… I would _love _to talk about the vigilante- I mean… Mare-Do-Well," Aurora confessed, "It's just that… I've been studying her since I was just a little filly. _Before_ somepony decided to dress as her in Ponyville. The mayor of Ponyville called her 'Mare-Do-Well', and she didn't even have a name when she was in Manehatten. She was just 'The Vigilante'. I'm sick of these posers who think she's cool just because she was in Ponyville."

"It's because they know you're the expert on Mare-Do-Well. Nopony else has studied her as much as you have. Did you ever figure out her secret identity?"

"Of course not," Aurora laughed, "It isn't like those "Power Ponies" comic books. This is real life. The vigilan- I mean, Mare-Do-Well, didn't slip up or let anypony know who she was. She was just a shadow."

As they talked, the two friends began trotting down the sidewalk at a lazy pace. Leaving the large school behind them, Aurora and Shiny travelled through the streets of Manehatten.

"Well, I heard that Ponyville organized a special celebration for Mare-Do-Well, and then some angry pegasus attacked her and she hasn't been seen since then," Shiny said.

"Yeah, everypony is acting like I know what happened. Maybe the pegasus killed her. The Vigil- ugh, _Mare-Do-Well_," Aurora corrected herself, "...did some dangerous things when she was in Manehatten. In fact, nopony knows what happened to her. She just disappeared one day. Sounds like the same thing happened in Ponyville."

"Well, I did some research of my own after Mare-Do-Well vanished from Ponyville," Shiny announced, puffing out her chest with pride, "In Ponyville, there were reports of her stopping a runaway bus… um… saving construction workers… I think there was something involving a dam…"

"Yeah, that stuff was nothing compared to what she did in Manehatten. Here she was stopping gang leaders, bank robberies, and alleyway muggings. She was important here, and they started a branch of Royal Guards in Manehatten because of her."

"Back then they did, Aurora. The Manehatten Royal Guard Branch isn't the same as it was back then. They don't have Mare-Do-Well as a symbol to step up their game. Did you hear about the gang war over in the factory district? Nopony tried to stop that… unicorn magic destroyed a lot of property."

"Really? Nopony at all?"

"Nopony," Shiny confirmed, "I think the guards here are just frightened foals instead of brave stallions. Either that, or the gangs are paying them to stay out of their business."

Aurora sighed as the two of them turned the corner down a dirty and nearly empty street, "This is why the vigilante was so important. She stood up for the ponies here, and Mare-Do-Well inspired ponies to help other ponies who couldn't help themselves."

"That's deep, Aurora. Now I have something to think about later on tonight," Shiny said, turning down another street as Aurora continued walking, "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah… are you sure you're okay?"

"Uh-huh. I'm fine… but I probably won't be without you, Aurora," Shiny said, stepping closer to her and wrapping her hooves around Aurora in a hug, "You're my best friend, you know that?"

"Of course I do," Aurora said, bidding her best friend farewell as they separated. Her eyes lingered on Shiny's cutie mark as she walked away, a design of a few ocean waves on Shiny's flank, and wondered how she managed to get that instead of glasses or something. Shiny was, after all, the smartest pony that Aurora knew.

Aurora snapped out of her thoughts, and continued trotting down the sidewalk. A chariot passed her, travelling down the street at a speedy pace. Aurora had always thought that walking along the street was too noisy, so she always turned down a secluded road where not many ponies ever travelled. It took a little longer to get home, but it was well worth it to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. After a while, Manehatten was just sickening to her.

Sure there were dirty homes to the sides of the street, but Aurora didn't mind. It was a rather true part of life that most ponies pretended didn't exist… and the residents seemed nice enough. Aurora reached the end of the street, humming to keep herself company in the silence that graced this part of Manehatten, and turned down another street.

Aurora nearly choked when she saw another pony, fallen in the middle of the street. Quickly, Aurora raced over to the mare while screaming "Are you okay?!" at the top of her lungs. The mare moaned. Aurora's heart leapt when she saw the mare's limbs, how broken and bent out of shape they seemed.

"Oh my Celestia," Aurora gasped, "Where you hit by a chariot?!"

"No…" The mare whispered, "I fell… my cane…"

The mare pointed her hoof, and Aurora followed the direction to see a cane. Aurora picked up the cane with her mouth, and carried it over to the mare. As the mare's hoof reached for the cane, Aurora took a closer look. The mare had a pink coat, with a mane of purple and greenish-blue, the same greenish-blue color as Aurora's mane. She was definitely an older pony, but Aurora noticed a unicorn horn. There had to have been something wrong with her powers, otherwise she could have gotten her cane herself. The injuries on her limbs, coupled with a few scars on her body, seemed to have been part of the mare for some time.

"What happened to you?" Aurora blurted, before feeling insensitive for asking. She blushed, and hastily murmured a "I mean…" to begin an apology.

"I fell down," the mare grunted, struggling to get to her hooves and leaning on the cane for support.

"I meant… your legs. What happened to you?"

The mare glanced up at Aurora, finally in a standing position, "It happened a long time ago. I don't want to talk about it."

With that, the mare tried to trot away, only to violently fall forward. Aurora caught her with her hoof, and wrapped her other hoof around her.

"Here, I'll help you inside," Aurora offered.

They awkwardly made their way to the sidewalk, and the mare led Aurora toward a small, broken-looking house. Aurora, supporting the mare with one hoof, opened the door and helped her get inside. Aurora noticed that the house was dark and cramped, as though designed for somepony living in seclusion. The mare plopped down into a big overstuffed chair, letting her cane fall to the floor. Almost as soon as she was seated, the mare had fallen asleep.

Aurora stared in wonder at the mare, picked up her cane and gently placed it to the side of the armchair, stared a few moments longer, and then quietly left.

Aurora stared up at the large apartment building that currently housed her and her father. It wasn't nearly high enough to be compared to the Empire Stallion Building or a few other select skyscrapers, but the apartment building was still fairly tall. After all, this building housed a lot of families on twenty floors. As Aurora entered the building, heading in the direction of the elevator to get to the 17th floor, she remembered that she and her father used to live in another apartment building, but they had left when she was a little filly.

Aurora was puzzled as to why the memory was resurfacing now, but shrugged it off as she climbed into the elevator.

_Itsthelastplaceyousawyourmother_

Aurora tried to forget about the old apartment building, but her thoughts flashed through her mind. The apartment building had been too small, that was

_whereisyourmotheraurora_

why they had moved across the city to this new one. She never thought about it until today, and she had no idea why the memory was resurfacing now. There was a ding, and then the elevator doors slid open to reveal the 17th floor. Aurora stepped out, and trotted down the hall toward her apartment.

"I'm home!" She called out as she opened the door. Her father, a stallion named Rightful Vice, was suddenly there at the door. Aurora had often noted how much she resembled her father (in all but mane colors, his was white). His cutie mark, a heart with a crack through it, always impressed her.

"Where have you been?!" He asked, trying to appear angry to hide his relief, "I was worried sick, Aurora!"

"I'm only a few minutes late, Dad!" Aurora complained, "I stopped to help an old mare who fell down in the street."

Rightful paused before his face widened in a big smile, "That's my girl," he praised, ruffling Aurora's mane with his hoof, "Is the mare okay?"

"She's fine… a bit weird in the head though," Aurora shrugged, "Listen, Dad, I've been thinking… what happened to Mom?"

The smile fell off Rightful's face, "Aurora, honey, I've told you… did anything happen today?"  
"No," Aurora answered, "I just wondered, that's all."

Rightful stared at her for a minute, and then sighed, "Your mother left us… she couldn't agree with how we were living, so she… left."

"That's it?"

"That's it," Rightful answered, making a half-hearted attempt at a grin, "Now come on. How d'you feel about macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight?"

Aurora smiled at her father, "That sounds great, Dad," Aurora replied, stepping into the kitchen to make the meal.


	3. Interlude 1-2

"Is there somethin' troubling ya, sir?"

He looked toward the stallion who had spoken, and noted the concern he saw on the stallion's face. Under the concern was the fear that speaking aloud had been a mistake. He stared at the stallion for a few moments, satisfied as the stallion broke his glance and stared at his own hooves.

"I'm fine," He answered, "I'm just… thinking about something my daughter brought up yesterday."

Everypony shifted uncomfortably as he sighed, straightening up and ready to get to business.

"As you know, a group of those filthy PurePonies are still causing trouble for us, particularly around the business district. Despite our victory in the factory district, they've refused to release our members imprisoned in Paradise Towers. Gentleponies, I've decided that the best course of action here is to use Plan Omega."

There was a strange mixture of startled gasps and excited laughs. Most ponies who sat around the table were surprised by the sudden announcement.

"But sir!" One mare protested, "With all due respect, Plan Omega is unprecedented! It's too risky and Subject Powerhouse is too unstable! Surely there must be some other way to regain control of the city?"

"I'm well aware of the risks of the plan and the uncertainty of Subject Powerhouse," He waved off the question, "But I've taken time to calculate every possible outcome. There is nopony like Powerhouse in Manehatten, and there is nopony that can stop him in all of Equestria!"

There were joyous whoops and gleeful shouts as he stood up from his chair at the head of the table.

"Somepony go tell Powerhouse that his time to shine has come… I have work to do."


	4. Chapter 2: A Startling Discovery

Chapter 2

A Startling Discovery

**Manehatten: The Past**

"Ah! Rightful! There you are! And this must be little Aurora!"

Glistening Waters greeted his longtime business partner and best friend, Rightful Vice, the latter of whom had brought his filly, Aurora. This was the first time Waters had met the foal. He ruffled her mane as they stepped into his home.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Glistening asked Rightful, and then he whispered, "Does she know?"

"No," Rightful whispered back, "Just like yours doesn't know. It'd be best if our fillies didn't know what we do."

"All too true," Glistening agreed, "Now then... Shiny? Where are you?"

"Over here, Daddy!" came Shiny's voice from the living room.

"Aurora, that's Shiny Seas. She's Glistening's filly," Rightful explained to Aurora, "Go in there and play."

"Okay daddy," Aurora said, trotting to the living room.

Glistening watched Aurora leave, and then turned to Rightful once she had gone, "Is this important, Rightful? You seemed quite unsettled on the phone. Is everything going well?"

"I'm still thinking about moving to Cloudsdale," Rightful answered, not looking Glistening in the eye, "I was going to take Aurora there after Evergreen was taken care of. Speaking of which, where's your wife?"

"She's out with a friend," Glistening replied, "But you can't leave Manehatten. What will we do without you? I don't think I could run the whole business myself! We'd all be in some Canterlot dungeon if not for you!"

"It's becoming a serious debate in my mind," Rightful continued, "I like the apartment, but it was going to be temporary until I could find property in Cloudsdale. Aurora and I are both Pegasi. On the off chance that Evergreen may actually be alive-"

"I don't like talking about this, Rightful," Glistening interrupted, "What will you do if Aurora were to find out what you did? Besides... that mare is long gone. Nopony could survive a fall like that."

"Then why wasn't her body there, Glistening?" Rightful growled, "I sent somepony to collect it only 10 minutes after I threw her down. They didn't get there until 20 minutes had passed. No guard could have found the body and carried it away that fast!"

"It's possible," Glistening shrugged, "You need to relax."

"Maybe you're right..." Rightful sighed, rubbing his eye with his hoof, "Have you got any new inventions to show me?"

"Of course!" Glistening announced, eyes sparkling as he trotted over to a notebook. Rightful noticed there was a padlock on it, keeping the book closed unless you had the key, which Glistening wore in a necklace, "I've been keeping them all in this special notebook. Here, I had a new idea for a sort of radio..."

**Manehatten: The Present**

Ponies scattered up and down the street in various directions as he stomped out of the bank.

He was quite an intimidating stallion with his shaved mane and burly appearance, but the heavy golden gauntlets that covered all four of his hooves completed the look. Those gauntlets wouldn't work for just anypony! He had been injected with a strange green serum that allowed him the strength to harness the power of the gloves.

He laughed powerfully as his hooves slammed into the pavement, cracking it underhoof easily. Thick bags full of bits and gems dangled from his two front hooves. Up and down the street, chariots had stopped and everypony that wasn't staring wide-eyed was running for their lives. There were few Royal Guards around, and most of them looked like they were shaking in their armor.

Nevertheless, one of the bolder stallions hurried over to him in a vain attempt to stop the carnage.

"Stay where you are!" He demanded, "Take off the... erm, gloves... and stand down!"

He simply stared at the Guard, and almost threw his head back in a laugh. Instead, he glared at the bold stallion and seized him with his gauntlets, holding him up in the air before the stallion could comprehend what was happening.

"Nopony orders around Powerhouse!" He declared, throwing the Guard across the street into an oncoming chariot, which tipped over as its extra passenger slammed into it, "_Nopony!_"

Powerhouse then knelt down and leapt high into the sky, soaring unlike any Pegasus and taking the bags from the bank with him. He landed on the roof of a skyscraper across the street from the bank. As startled passerby looked up in terror, marveling and cowering at the power that he had within his four golden machines, he turned around once more and shouted into the sky.

"Nopony can stop Powerhouse!" He laughed. Just before he turned and stormed off, leaving a panicked pony public in his wake, one mare who worked as a photographer for the Manehatten Daily Newspaper managed to snap a picture of the mystery stallion. An extra was printed later that day with the bold headline: _Who can stop a Powerhouse?_

Shiny Seas' bright blue eyes were drawn down to an innocent-looking paintbrush sticking out of Golden Eagle's saddlebag.

She hadn't forgotten the beating that was endured three days before. Ever since then, Shiny had made sure to keep her notebook at home, with the lock firmly closed. She was close to finishing constructing one of the inventions written down by her father, and Golden had nearly ruined it when she tried to steal the notebook. Shiny was very protective of the notebook because she didn't want anypony to know that only a few of the inventions in the book were hers. She hadn't even told Aurora, instead telling her best friend that she was the one who wrote them all down.

The notebook was all she had left of her father, whom had thrusted the book into her hooves before leaving for the final time.

"Take care of this, Shiny," He said breathlessly, "I've got work to do..."

"Will you be back?" Shiny remembered saying in her quiet, young filly voice as she hugged the notebook closer to her, an act that would only be repeated as she went on through her school years in order to prevent anypony from finding it.

"Of course I will," He had said, running his hoof through his only daughter's mane, "I'll be back tonight, Shiny. I'll be back to see you again."

He had never returned after Shiny saw him leave.

Shiny blinked, snapping back to the reality of Equestrian History class. The teacher, a mare named Miss Brightline, continued discussing the Shadow Proclamation and its relevance to Nightmare Moon's transformation. It was in this class, sitting behind Golden Eagle due to Miss Brightline's assigned seats, that Golden had stolen her notebook. The paintbrush kept attracting her attention, and she couldn't look away. Upon closer examination, she noticed that the brush had small traces of glistening yellow paint on the very tips of the bristles. As she stared, Golden Eagle pushed the paintbrush deeper into her saddlebag, underneath a Daring Do book: Daring Do and the Ghosts of the Romane Empire.

Shiny became suspicious, and started wondering what Golden had been doing with the paintbrush. One amused thought was that Golden had been painting her coat, and it wasn't actually that golden color. Another was that Golden was helping to paint the mural in the cafeteria that the art team had been working on for the school since Hearth's Warming Eve.

Neither of those theories seemed likely.

It wasn't until after the bell rang, releasing them from their endless class, that the true purpose of the paintbrush had been revealed. Shiny left class and met with Aurora near the latter's locker. As Aurora twisted the combination lock with her mouth, Shiny talked about how boring her classes were.

"At least they're better than mine," Aurora answered, finishing her combination and pulling the locker open, "I've just got out of Study of Ancient Dragon Civilizations. That class is horrible... a step up from Study of Diamond Dogs though-"

"Oh my Celestia!" Shiny cried, putting her hoof over her mouth. Aurora blinked, and looked into her locker. She gasped at the sight of sloppy, yellow paint splattered over her locker door in the shape of words, which read _You'll regret it, you whorse._

"That's what the paintbrush was..." Shiny whispered as realization dawned, slowly taking her hoof away from her mouth, leaving an awed expression, "Aurora, you know who did this...?"

"I have an idea," Aurora replied, glaring behind Shiny. Shiny turned around to see Golden Eagle sitting a short distance away on a bench with her hooves crossed and a triumphant expression on her face. As they watched, Eagle got up onto her hooves, turned around, and walked down the hallway, vanishing behind a wall of classmates on their way to class.

"Gross..." Aurora murmured, looking back at the paint.

"Aurora, this has to be the beginning!" Shiny exclaimed, "You knocked Golden Eagle unconscious! She's going to get even somehow..."

"...and her revenge will be worse than just paint in a locker," Aurora finished, "Yeah, I know... I think I'll just ignore her. Eventually she'll feel like a fool."

"I hope so..." Shiny murmured.

"Yeah... anyway, I have to get to class," Aurora said, pulling a large science textbook from her locker with her mouth and putting it in her saddlebag, "If I don't start pulling my grades up, I think I'll fail Chemistry... not that it matters..."

"I don't think you'll graduate without it, Aurora," Shiny murmured.

"Oh... I guess I'll have to start paying attention in that class then... too bad Miss Chemics has such a boring voice..." Aurora mumbled as she looked through her locker, "Huh... where's my Daring Do book? I know I put it in here..."

Shiny felt cold as she flashed back to Equestrian History class and remembered looking into Golden Eagle's saddlebag as she pushed a paintbrush down.

"Oh Celestia, where is it... I borrowed that from Cherry Blossom... if I don't find it...!"

"Aurora, what was the name of that book?"

"I don't know... A.K. Yearling used a lot of history in it... Ghosts of the Romane Empire I think."

Shiny's mind raced back to Equestrian History class again. The book that Golden Eagle had couldn't have been...? And even if it was, wouldn't it just be a crazy coincidence? Somehow, she doubted it. If Eagle had been in Aurora's locker with the paint, it would have been too easy to take the book.

"I think Golden Eagle stole that too," she said after a moment's hesitation, "Aurora-"

"_That total HORSE!_" Aurora screamed, slamming her locker shut. Shiny leapt back with fright. Aurora had always kept her temper; Shiny had never seen her friend lose control with rage before. Aurora swung her hoof, hitting her locker.

"Aurora!" Shiny gasped, "Calm down!"

Aurora blinked a few times and then looked down at her hoof as though it had turned into a parasprite when she wasn't looking. Aurora sighed deeply.

"I-I'm sorry, Shiny," Aurora apologized, shaking her head, "I'd... better get to Chemistry now. See you later."

Aurora hurried down the hallway, embarrassed at having lost control at a stupid prank, especially when said stupid prank was courtesy of somepony like Golden Eagle. Eagle the savior, Eagle the pride of the football team, Eagle the pony who had knocked Aurora's best friend down and kicked her until Aurora herself had shown up.

Aurora hadn't realized it, but she was grinding her teeth.

She stepped into Chemistry, only to see that half the class had already arrived. Miss Chemics was still nowhere to be found. Aurora started trotting over to the lab table she shared with a (rather handsome, if not a bit dark) stallion by the name of Crimson Moon.

One of Eagle's friends tripped her as Aurora walked by her desk.

_Finally out of Manehatten Penitentiary- Sorry. Manehatten High I mean_, Aurora thought, rolling her eyes.

The Pegasus walked out a side door, the same one she had left from the previous day. Everybody else left through the main doors at the front of the school, but Aurora found this to be a quicker route home... not that she was in any sort of rush. After all, there was nothing at home that could compare to the scenic walk she took. It felt good to get away from everypony else and have some Aurora-time.

As she trotted, she could imagine what was going to happen when she finally got home to the large apartment occupied by her and her father. Yesterday had been relaxed, but her father was a serious exercise freak, putting her through a rigorous workout regiment every other day (except weekends), on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so she'd likely have much to do once she finally got home. Naturally, her father had watched her do wing-ups and haunch squats, but he had never done so much as a deep hoof bend; Aurora thought better than to complain. After all, wasn't the exercise one of two reasons she had beaten Golden Eagle (the other reason being her own quick thinking and memory)?

Shiny hurried to catch up to her. Despite her own somewhat-slow trot as she stared at the ground in thought, Aurora had still made quite a bit of progress. She looked back, grinning as Shiny galloped up to her. Aurora wondered if Shiny would bring up her freakout over Shiny's prank.

"Aurora, you've got to see this," Shiny said breathlessly. She held up a newspaper, an extra edition of Manehatten Daily. Aurora squinted at the picture on the front page. It was a faraway shot of a stallion on a roof holding two thick bags. The headline read _Who Can Stop a Powerhouse?_

Aurora's eyes eagerly flicked back and forth as she read the story, a stallion wearing some kind of high-tech gloves had robbed one of Manehatten's many banks and disappeared after severely injuring a Royal Guard. The stallion was no average pony. The Guards were asking anypony with information to come forward.

"This is like something out of a comic book," Shiny breathed.

"But there's no hero," Aurora said sadly, "If only the Vigilante was still around."

"Maybe Mare-Do-Well will visit from Ponyville and stop him," Shiny offered.

"Probably not. They haven't seen Mare-Do-Well in weeks."

"Because she was an imposter..." Aurora sighed. Suddenly, she turned to Shiny with a wide grin on her face, "Shiny, do you think the real Mare-Do-Well will come back? She fought ponies like Powerhouse!"

"Aurora, you know that's less likely than Ponyville's Mare-Do-Well showing up."

"Oh... right," Aurora sighed, this time with a bit of sorrow underneath.

The two continued to talk until that certain streetcorner where Aurora and Shiny parted ways, Shiny setting off to her home with her mother and Aurora walking through a quiet neighborhood.

Aurora had never really seen anypony outside around the neighborhood she always trotted through, aside from the mare who had fallen the day before. She turned a corner, half-expecting to see the mare sprawled in the road again, but it was as empty and bare as usual. She looked around at all of the broken-down houses, and remembered precisely which house she had helped the mare into.

Before she could consider what she was doing, Aurora was knocking on the door.

There was a temporary pause, and then came the sound of faint shuffling from inside. The injured mare inside was probably wondering who would be at her door. Aurora wondered if she had any family. Next to the door was a window, the shades of which were pulled back as the mare stared out. Aurora smiled. The windowshades were dropped and fell back to where they had been covering the window. There was the sound of the door unlocking, and then the door opened to reveal an unamused-looking mare, leaning heavily on a cane.

"You know," the mare began, "I don't think I ever thanked you for what you did yesterday."

"It was nothing," Aurora answered, "Anypony else would have done it."

"But it wasn't anypony else," the mare replied, "It was you."

The mare hesitated, and then asked Aurora inside. The house was as dark and cramped as she remembered from the day before. The mare limped into the kitchen while Aurora sat down on a small chair, nowhere near as big as the overstuffed armchair that the mare seemed to favor. Aurora looked around, only to notice there were no pictures of family or anything that looked personal. Everything looked artificial and sad. She wondered how the mare spent her days alone in this small house.

"I got, uh, lemonade," the mare said, limping back in with a tray holding two glasses filled with the sweet yellow juice. Aurora thanked her as she took one. The mare placed the tray on a small coffeetable between the two chairs, and sat down in the overstuffed armchair.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to company," the mare said.

Aurora wasn't sure how to respond to that, "It's alright," she answered, taking a sip from the glass. The lemonade was cold and sweet, with a tart undertaste, "Mmm, the lemonade is wonderful by the way."

The mare nodded. "Thank you."

They sat in silence. Aurora stared into her glass because every time she looked at the mare, her eyes were pulled down to the mare's damaged legs. Finally, the mare cleared her throat.

"I don't think I ever told you my name. It's Evergreen... Evergreen Sunlight."

"I'm Aurora." An expression flashed across the mare's face, but just as soon as it had appeared, it was gone. Aurora noticed it, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, it's just... ah... I used to know somepony by that name," Evergreen took a long drink of lemonade.

"I think I knew an Evergreen a while ago," Aurora murmured, "Or was it Everlight... Everclear? Evengreen?"

Evergreen chuckled, setting her empty lemonade glass on the tray. The tray, which had been slightly unbalanced on the edge of the table, now fell over. The glass fell onto the floor and shattered, spreading glass everywhere. The mare gasped and Aurora jumped up.

There was silence for a second as both of them registered what had happened, and then they both relaxed. The crippled mare started to get up.

"Oh, don't get up," Aurora said, "I can clean it up. Do you have a broom and dustpan, by chance?"

"In the closet upstairs," Evergreen said gratefully, motioning at the stairs with her hoof, "First door on the left."

Aurora trotted up the stairs, which creaked beneath her weight even though she was a Pegasus, and therefore was lighter on her feet than most other ponies. At the top, she found herself staring down a small hallway with only three doors: a bathroom, a bedroom, and a closet. _First door on the left? More like only door on the left_, Aurora thought.

She opened the door to be faced with a single coat hanging up, an overturned vacuum, and boots among miscellaneous other things. The broom and dustpan were in the back of the closet. Aurora leaned toward them, stretching out her hoof, and cried out in surprise as she fell forward, tripping over the overturned vacuum.

In her panic at falling, her hooves flailed for something to grab onto. They hit the wall, but instead of stopping, Aurora went through the wall as the back fell in. For a moment, she thought that she had broken Evergreen's wall, but realized (to her shock) that it was a panel concealing a secret compartment.

"Aurora? What happened?" came Evergreen's voice.

"N-nothing! I just tripped!" Aurora called back in the direction of the stairs, "I'm fine!"

Aurora turned back toward the closet, and squinted in the darkness. There was definitely something in the secret compartment. As rude as Aurora thought it was to be looking through Evergreen's private things, curiosity got the better of her. She groped around the closet in search of a lightswitch, and finally found a cord. She yanked it, and a light overhead turned on, illuminating the closet in a vibrant yellow brightness.

Much better, Aurora thought. She looked in the secret compartment, finally able to see inside. Aurora gasped, face turning white. She stumbled backwards as her mouth moved, yet no words came out. The world spun and her heart pounded. She blinked and rubbed her eyes with her hoof to be sure that she had seen it. When she finally looked back in, she realized that it was no lie. No deception; it was real.

Inside the secret compartment was a neatly folded Mare-Do-Well costume, mask sitting on the top over the cape.


	5. Interlude 2-3

Interlude 2-3

Powerhouse had had a long day, the kind of day that sapped your strength and left you weak and weary. The hard work he had put in was impressive, even for him with his gauntlets of power and serum in his blood. Terrorizing the sprawling metropolis of Manehatten while avoiding capture? Difficult. Fortunately, he wasn't only a savage brute. He'd had to come up with his own strategies.

Taking a long moment to rest on a rooftop, he surveyed the cityscape. He wondered what he was supposed to do next. There had to be more to his role in the plan than simply attacking the upper (and more populated) half of Manehatten. Powerhouse frowned, and then his face lit up.

Why hadn't he thought of it before? All he had to do was ask the boss! It was so simple. Feeling fully recharged, Powerhouse stretched out his hooves and kicked a few times. The gauntlets sparked with raw power, and he grinned before jumping once more, soaring into the sky before shooting back down to crush the pavement underhoof.

Powerhouse was going to find his boss.


End file.
